The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1887-08-11
"mucH OR LITTLE"

business, and be Wss in agony.
One day Deacon h bb 1rd-a good old
farmer, from the upper part Of town,
called 10 81 the tavern, and asked Loftus
II be could give him - bite Of something
70 eat" He impressed Il upon Steve LOT.
tus' mind that be didn't want . regular
dinner. A cup Of weak tea, q crust Of
stalls bread, with . little butter. Thst
was all
And that was all Lotus gave him. he
drank the tea, ate the butter on about half
the broa I, then arose and veat out into
the barroom aud ASKED what was 70 paw.
''rhirty-hvo cents. Deacon, IL the price
for dinner"
Now the good old deacon Wss By no
N ;ans penurious man, nor was be IN
any way grasping; but be was q poor
man, and obligsi 70 look after the pen
nies II he would make both ends net st
the end Of the year.
'But-Mr. Lotus" fairly gsspsd the
deacon, You don't call that 8 dinner
which you served met"
HSsrtin do, Deacon It's the regular
dinner time, aud gave you ali you want
ed. You mout'r had all you'd ASKED for.
Le'ms tell yer-Pvs got Jest one reg'lsr
ruls-A dinners . dinner, 1peA or lrtis;
and I've got ny prire-ihirty-hve cents.
II - W. - GNIA = AAAuA ~ NAA AANAA GN9 NNA
ten times a. much, an 'twouldu't been
only q dinner"
HSUppOss q man should come along that
could eat q whole oxT' suggested the dss.
con.
s'Twould Be Jest the sane AS I told
you afore, much or little, much or little, q
dinners q dinner"
The deacon took out ais wsn-worn
/ purse, and paid the sum; but be did n re-
luctanty, and with heavy heart twas
not so much the money, as he told ne
Gfterward; but the thought Of the wrong
put upon him
Now It 60 happened that nv friend
/ Abner Jackson and myself were sitting 10
the baF-room at the time. Also, there
were q number Of others-all frieAds-
smoking and chatting socially.
Ten or fifteen minutes before the dea.
con came out Of the dininR-room Abner
and bad seen Dan Bantam p lss with a
load Of woods and We knew he was haul
ing Il TO Dr.. d ,niels'. Here was an op-
portuulty to give LOTUS q Roland for his
Oliver. Bantam had worked for me once;
and had once eaten at my table; but never
sgsin.
he stood six feet in his stcckings; and
was a. lean and lsnk as g fence rail he
could eat more than any other m an ever
knew.
followed Deacon Hibbard 20 the door.
and asked him 70 go back and wait q
while, at the SAM time whispering 20
him that be should have an opportunity
70 give the land lord 3 slight return for
his din or charge.
We found Dan with his wood on, ready
for q start homeWard. We asked him n
he was hungry.
"Hungryl' he repeated, regarding us
with simple wonder. 'Glul dern e;
when amt l hungry I'd like ter gu
filled up Jest oncs I'll be snaked II
wouldn'tP'
We then told him II he would come 70
tie tavern, and order dinner and eat Il.
we would pay the bill. Dsu was nobody's
fool. Ga the way we gave him an ink ing
Of what we really wanted. 81 IS ull gray
eyes fairly shone. Il appeared that
Lotus had once cheated him In paying
for Q load Of wood-h "a given him 9
counterfeit half dollar, and would not
take { back. Poor Dan could not afford
70 risk g suit at law; so be had bsen OBJ
liged 10 pocket the loss. By this time We
had gone half the distances 70 the tavern,
he was thoroughly instructed, and a.
eager for the fray ss = man could be.
Then We slipped on al.sad, and left him 20
come aftsr.
We found the company in the bar-room
90 We had left It. Tue deacon had sal
down and pleksl up an cid papsr. The
landlord was tumbling about now here,
new there, watching for q customer By
and BY Dan Bantam drove bis OF team
into the stable yard, shook down . whisp
Of hay before the beasts from q bag in bis
cart and then came into the bAr-room
Be wanted soms dinner.
SAnd want q bang.up Que, ole hossi"
Lotus looked him over-the MAJ had
never eaten At the inn table-looked 81
him from head 70 foot, thinking, per haps,
that Q man % lean aud lAnk 0u.d not be |
q great eater. BE didn't ask the guest |
what be would like for dinner, but simply |
info. med him that Il would be ready IN |
few minutes; and then waddled away. |
Dan Wss hungryi bis mouth wstsred The |
day was Saturday, and the cooks hal |
made provisions for the morrow, and i
were stn At work, - was evident from |
the odors that were ever and anon watt /
Cd In frt1n the kitchen.
10 the courss Of Eve 70 ten minutes the /
landlord put his rubieund vissgs In ct the /
door and announced that dinner was
ready
AbDsr and 9sksd him II be could serve
us with q lunon q the same time. Ger
q nlyt We could have what We wanted. /
turned 70 the deacon sud asked him II be /
would 20 in with rs. said Il
We can finish cur business Just IS well /
viii Mr.. Jackson and are eating a. 81
any tine"
ieaIled for . pises Of pie, with cheese
and = cup Of milk Abnsr called for thu
same.
1he sidsoosrd was q broad pine table,
A.
- 80 Tie partition VI lie
Gitchen; AMI over that end was an \
apsrture communicating With the Gull nary
department. o. this board / saw q lola
u yeal-rOast-with oniT q few slices
9oua- Il would furnish cold meat for
supper, with plenty left for the help.
Also. . part Of . roast sirlnlu Of beef.
That, likewise, was intended for supper
cold
III landlord saw Us seated, aud having
placed before d ~ dish Of potatoes, two
slices Of bread, really generous Ice Of
veal with q small dish Of gravy, be was
upon the point Of turning. when the
hungry m IN asked n ha caul int have
something wsrm 20 drink a. didn't
care Particularly whether u Tas tea o.
ooisA
ave don't furnish hot drink with Dime,
unless s-Dec'ally ordered" said Lotus
rather huf1ly.
"Wan, ole hossi ies' you consider thst
heF specially ordered coffee 81 we've
got Il handy. 81 ye haveu't, lst'r b
tsa.n
A rsd-headsd girl who was in WAITING
g TIE sidsooard was directed 70 call fof
TIE conee-pot; and shortly after, &c
though fearing thaths might cone 20 high |
words with the fellow II be remained. the
fat host took himself out Of the wav,
leaving Susan 70 wait upon the table and
up0l the guesta
Susan Mason, the damsei o. she red
hsad, was q farmers daughter, whose
pereea were asxt-dooF neighhors %
Abner. and they we're friends she dis
liked Loftnsi and when Abusr had given
her % understand the game In had she ,
,a1ght 90 Il eagerly.
And t1en oegaa q scene Of the drama
has never saw approach a b. any othsr
nan Daa's plata was cleared IN q tuiuk.
inE
'Soos'ni-A lsstls pace mo-s o that
~ Wsal, z'u pissss8
y eans-a generous slice; snd Dan
Idded another potato
s'Soua'ni VII Ye ls' ne hev bit rnora